Grinding poverty and the escalating war is driving an increasing number of Afghan families to sell their daughters into forced marriages.

Girls as young as six are being married into a life of slavery and rape, often by multiple members of their new relatives. Banned from seeing their own parents or siblings, they are also prohibited from going to school. With little recognition of the illegality of the situation or any effective recourse, many of the victims are driven to self-immolation – burning themselves to death – or severe self-harm.

Women’s lives worse than ever – Asia, World – Independent.co.uk.

If you’d like to do something, write to President Karzai:

President Hamid Karzai
President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Presidential Palace
Shahr-e-Now
Kabul
Afghanistan

More information: The Women’s Rights in Afghanistan Fund

Photo of Afghani women discussing human rights in the context of Islamic culture from the WRAF website.

Tags: Afghanistan, Women’s+Rights, The+Independent